“One kind word can warm three winter months.” This Japanese proverb speaks no truer

word. As winter closes in and the darkness creeps forward I have experienced nothing but

warmth from our school community’s kindness.

As we move into a season where many faiths celebrate light, I would like to use my

Newsletter to celebrate all that is positive about Rhodes Avenue.

I would like to say thank you to RAPSA, the heart of the school community, for giving your

time to support the school. The Quiz night, the off the rail sale and the Christmas fair

have all been huge successes. Your time is greatly appreciated by the school community

and I wanted to say thank you.

I would like to celebrate our mention in the Sunday Times list of top 250 high performing

state primary schools. We were placed 63rd for the average points scored by the end of

Key Stage 2 in 2017. This is a fantastic achievement for the school and one to be

celebrated.

97% of parents attended the recent parent evening and the feedback received has been

overwhelmingly positive. I hope your child’s termly report and feedback from the meeting

the teacher has provided you with a clear overview of the progress your child is making. If

you were unable to meet your child’s class teacher, do make contact with them do arrange

a meeting as soon as possible.

I also wanted to share how deeply touched I have been by your

children’s respect, mature understanding and compassion for

others. During our recent Remembrance Assembly the children

in Key Stage 2 demonstrated great levels of maturity and

thoughtfulness.

Similarly the children in Years 1and 2 have demonstrated their drive

to impact on the world we live in. I received 120 posters, letters,

leaflets, pictures and stories explaining why we should protect our

environment and take care of our wildlife. All pieces of work will be

sent to the Secretary of State for Environment and Green Peace to

show how strongly, the children at Rhodes Avenue feel about

deforestation. They were inspired by the Christmas Iceland advert

and really want to show their support for Rang-tan.

Our whole school value this half term is friendship

December 2018: Issue 4

We have many wonderful musicians and, over the next few weeks, you will have

the opportunity to hear the children play and perform.

Carols at Bounds Green

Bounds Green Carol Singing will be on December the 11th for the charity Shelter. Thank

you, in advance, to those helping to spread the festive cheer.

Orchestra and Year 3 performance

The performance on Monday 17th December, 2.30pm, is one not to be missed! I look

forward to seeing you there to celebrate our wonderful musicians.

Christmas Concerts

The Infant Choir will be performing on 14th December at 3pm.

We also look forward to seeing you all at our Christmas Choir Concert on Tuesday 18th

December at 6.30pm.

(Junior Choir, Chamber Choir and Boyband)

The Music Team

Sarah Chambers, Emily Gazzard, Jo McGahon and Clarence Ng

Chess Updates

Andrei and Alex qualified for the U10 London Junior Chess

Championship Finals at a tournament held at Garden Suburbs

School last Saturday.

This is a fantastic feat considering they played in a particularly

strong qualifier with over 60 entries.

Andrei won four, drew one and only lost one of his six games

earning a place in the prestigious U10 Major Finals. Alex won

three and drew one of his six games qualifying for the U10

Minor Finals.

Both boys played some great chess and reflects the amazing

progress they have been making in their playing.

Kamlesh

Christmas Trees

The school Christmas trees have been donated, once again, this year. We would like to say a big thank you to;

christmastreeforest.co.uk. for every tree sold, they plant a tree in the

African drylands via treeaid.org.uk so please support them if you can.

To Pepperpots Flowers who have donated two trees

(lucy@pepperpots.flowers)

And also thanks to Sunshine Garden Centre who have also donated their

annual Christmas tree to Rhodes Avenue.

When the school breaks up, on the last day of the Autumn Term, all trees are donated again to families who find this time of year difficult.

MBE

Alison, our Chair of Governors, attended Buckingham

Palace last week for her MBE investiture. I would once

again like to congratulate Alison for the contribution

she makes to the school.

I would like to thank Governors past and present for

their voluntary time and expertise. The Governing

Body is a vital role within the school’s structure

supporting the drive for improvement. As a body they

support school partnerships across the Borough and

pursue excellence in all aspects of school life.

Thank you

Helping Others

Child in Need

The Nursery and reception children raised £680 for Child in Need.

Thank you to the parents for helping to sell cakes and collecting

donations, the class representatives for organising the event and to

those who baked or donated goods to sell.

A great amount for a great cause!

Supporting Local Children

3SP parents and children are supporting the MET

Christmas Appeal. Last year the Metropolitan Police

received over 19,000 present donations to support local

children. What a wonderful way to support children in our

local area. Well done 3SP!

RAPSA News

Thank you if you have started shopping using our easyfundraising page - but we

still need more support. Remember, the shops you buy from online donate

directly to Rhodes Avenue, so it doesn’t cost you a penny. Think of it like Google,

find your retailer on the easyfundraising page, then click through to that retailer’s

official website and shop as normal. If we all did our Christmas shopping via

easyfundraising we could be quids in by January.

Copy this link to sign up, it takes 2 minutes.

https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/rhodesavenueprimary

Science Spectacular

On Wednesday 7th November, Rhodes Avenue

held its first ever 'Science Spectacular' event.

Witham Hall was full of children sharing their

wonderful science projects. All projects were of

an exceptionally high standard and the children's

confidence and scientific knowledge while

presenting their projects was extremely

impressive. The library had a selection of brand new science books and games for

the children to read. Finally the Sports Hall was taken over by fabulous science

demonstrations. We were treated to various demonstrations set up and run by

groups of Year 6 children. The demonstrations ranged from exploding freaky hands

to floating paper clips. Children and parents were mesmerised by our special guest

and all his wonderful demonstrations. It was a fantastic evening, made particularity

special with such a big turnout. A huge well done to everyone involved and a special

thank you to all those who came to support the event.

Aileen Cronin – Science leader

Lemony Snicket

In Year 1 we have been looking at the book The Dark by Lemony Snicket. It has been

so exciting to read the story and find out all about Laszlo and the dark. We have used

the book to complete learning in so many different areas. We even tweeted the

author all of our fantastic work. We have made our very own shadow puppets and

movers and sliders. We have been inside the dark den and produced some fantastic

pieces of writing based on the book. We are also looking forward to our trip to the

Natural History Museum to explore the Life in the Dark exhibition. The children have

come up with so many amazing ideas about what was at the bottom of the stairs and

inside the bottom drawer - when we found out what actually was inside, we were all

a little bit surprised.

Joanne McGahon – Year 1 Leader

Life in Reception

In Reception, children learn primarily through play experiences. We have a wide

and varied curriculum and follow the children’s lead in terms of what their

interests are, what they like to play with and what they enjoy in order to

continuously build upon their level of knowledge and understanding.

Reception children at Rhodes Avenue are very lucky to be able to explore a

number of different areas and activities throughout the day. The children have

free flow access to their own and other classrooms, our fantastic activity street,

the outdoor learning area and to Forest School sessions in our school spinney

once a week. Access to play in these areas is of prime importance in the Early

Years. We value the outdoor space as much as the indoor environment so we go

outside whatever the weather.

Our Autumn Term has been super busy. The children have been exploring the

topics of ‘Marvellous Me and My Fantastic Friends’ through the use of books such

as Our House by Michael Rosen and The Great Big Book of Feelings by Mary

Hoffman. This term our ‘Dark Skies and Bright Lights’ topic encompasses the

solar system and the night sky and Festivals that we celebrate with our family

and friends at this time of year.

We have so much fun in Reception and learn many things from our teachers and

peers. Don’t forget to activate your Tapestry account to have a look at some of

the things your child has been busy doing since the beginning of the school year.

You’ll be amazed!

Laura Moore

Reception Leader

Term Dates

The term dates for the next two years are available on the School website

including INSET days

https://rhodesavenue.school/news-events/term-dates/

Please remember the school will close for the Autumn Term

on Friday 21st December at 1.30pm and for the After School Clubs at 3.30pm.

A busy day in Hedgehog Nursery? We always start the day by saying hello to our friends and joining in with a 5 a day song and dance

We always work hard, especially when visiting the office, we always have so many jobs to do!

Now time for measuring in maths, helping others in trouble ‘fire crew to the rescue’ and then we go on safari

After a snack and a drink we have the chance to explore becoming problem solvers and architects.

Taking time out of a hectic day to read a book is always relaxing before we say good bye. I wonder what tomorrow will bring: maybe a visit to the moon, a chance to climb a mountain or make the world’s tallest tower!

In the next Newsletter we will share what our Woodpecker children have been

busy doing.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish

those celebrating a very Merry Christmas or a

Happy Hanukkah. I look forward to seeing

many of you, in the forthcoming weeks, at one

of our many performances. The new school

term starts on Monday 7th January 2019.

I would like to wish you a wonderful holiday

and a very Happy New Year.

Best wishes,

Adrian Hall

Headteacher

RHODES AVENUE PRIMARY SCHOOL Rhodes Avenue, Wood Green, London N22 7UT Tel: 020 8888 2859/5785 Fax: 020 8881 7090 Email: office@rhodes.haringey.sch.uk www.rhodes.haringey.sch.uk